August 31, 2001
Dave Winer: Microsoft's Scripting Strategy. It scares me, but I think he's right on. What scares me more is that there are lots of people whose response will be, "Yeah? So?"
When we were looking to pick a WYSIWYG HTML editor at work, it came down to a choice between Microsoft FrontPage and Macromedia Dreamweaver. There were a few strong voices who insisted that we go with FrontPage because it integrates so well with other Microsoft products. True, and that's something mighty powerful. What bothers me is that FrontPage integrates with MS products to the exclusion of other companies' products and of open standards. That's one of the things that I like about Dreamweaver: its deliberate and focused commitment to open standards.
The not-so-hidden subtext to the demand that we use FrontPage was the desire to move toward a solely Microsoft-based environment, because they make everything so easy and interoperable. Again, pretty much true, and that's what frightens me: because that interoperability comes at the expense of being able to cooperate with other environments and open, non-proprietary standards. Not unlike the situation that Winer describes.
